The murder of two brothers shook Barola village on Tuesday with the family of the deceased staging a sit-in with the bodies in front of the Sector 49 police station. They demanded that the police act swiftly in bringing the culprits to book.

The deceased have been identified as Umesh Sharma (20) and Yogesh Sharma (17). While Umesh was pursuing his graduation, Yogesh was reading at the intermediate level.

Agitation over the murder, which took place on Monday night, brought the village to a standstill till the police arrested two suspects on Tuesday.

In their complaint, the family of the deceased have named two brothers, Gulshan and Jitendra, as suspects. The family also alleged the involvement of the duo’s parents in the crime.

Due to the growing agitation, the police detained the father of the accused on Tuesday morning since both the accused were absconding since Monday night.

On Tuesday evening, police arrested Gulshan from Baghpat, but Jitendra is still at large.

“We have arrested Gulshan and his father Omkar. We are looking for Jitendra. Their mother would be arrested only if her involvement is found in the crime,” police said.

Initial police investigation suggests that the murders are the outcome of an old rivalry. The family of the deceased said the bothers had a dispute with accused Gulshan during a cricket match about three months ago.

“On Monday night, Gulshan is said to have entered into an argument with a person in Barola who called Umesh for help,” said said Avnish Kumar, circle officer-3, Noida.

“Umesh had come back home from his computer classes when he received a phone call and left in a hurry. When Umesh reached Barola, Gulshan and his brother Jitendra took him at knifepoint. They forced Umesh to call his brother Yogesh as well. When Yogesh went there to help his brother, he too was caught and killed,” said Avnish.

“Umesh and Yogesh sustained multiple stab wounds on their bodies. One of them was found with his throat slit sideways and the other had a deep stab wound on his chest,” Kumar said.

The two brothers lost a lot of blood due to deep injuries and collapsed outside the accused’s residence, he said.

Police said that to avoid suspicion, the accused’s father, Omkar, called the police and informed them about two persons lying in pool of blood near his residence.

Police said when they reached the spot, the victims had already been taken to the hospital and were declared brought dead.

“Around 9pm, we came to know that Umesh and Yogesh were lying in pool of blood in a drain in Barola. We rushed them to the hospital, but they could not be saved as they had lost a lot of blood,” said Ramesh, the victims’ uncle.